Cherry Blossom in the Wind
by Miss Lady Rin
Summary: One mission. One task. One decision. How will it affect her? How will she deal with it? Read on to find out!


**A/N:**

This is my first fanfic uploaded onto fanfiction. It's acutally a birthday gift for my friend Akane! This is for you Akane! Hope you enjoy!

We were talking about fanfics one day, and somehow I got myself into making her a fanfic. This took forever to write, mainly because I'm lazy. So, then, I decided I'd have it done for her birthday. Well, today's her birthday, and here it is!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES!! IF I DID, CRAZY SHIT WOULD HAPPEN!! Thank you.**

--

Sakura's green eyes swept over her room. She put the last of her necessities in her knapsack and set it on the floor next to her bed. On the nightstand next to her bed was the scroll. The mission assignment. The mission was tomorrow morning, and she couldn't stop thinking about it.

'Seek and destroy Uchiha Sasuke'

She should have see this coming. Of course, ranking up to ANBU would mean a mission like this. But it took her by surprise anyway. She objected to it numerous times, but if she wanted to keep her job and reputation, she had no choice. She was known as the beautiful, but very much dangerous, cherry blossom of the Leaf. A silent, but dead accurate killer. She always finished her missions with outstanding results, and she intended to keep it that way.

She sat on her bed, back against the wall, knees up to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around them, and stared out the window. It was almost midnight. Just four hours until it was time to head out. She closed her eyes, and waited.

--

Four A.M. came soon enough. She stood in front of her teacher and Hokage, Tsunade, who stared at her grimly. Naruto sat in one of the chairs, still begging to come. He was snapped at for the fiftieth time this morning. He was still so full of himself, always trying to be the hero. Always trying to fix everything, even now, with his right leg broken at least twenty times from their last encounter with the rouge Uchiha. (1)

Tsunade went over the mission with Sakura one last time. She nodded in understanding, and was dismissed. A very unhappy looking Naruto watched as she left, quietly uttering a good luck.

And she was off.

As soon as she hit the village gates, she broke into a brisk run. The target was a few miles away in nearby Rice Field Country. It would only take a few hours to get there. Every step she took hurt her more than any kunai, shuriken, or katana could. But she went on.

After a few hours, she approached her given destination, and slowed to a normal paced run. The target was said to have taken residence in an old hideout of Orochimaru's. The hideaway was covered in forest vegetation and was almost totally concealed. It looked very similar to a simple cavern in the rock surrounding the entrance, except for a barely noticeable wooden sign with the Hidden Sound village symbol on it. She stealthily crept inside the seemingly abandoned hiding place, and continued on into the darkness that enfolded her as she got deeper into the structure.

It seemed like life could not thrive in the cold, moist, cave-like edifice, but this was supposedly where her target had taken reconciliation. There were a few times when cold water would drip from the ceiling and onto Sakura's head, startling her greatly, then feeling stupid for being so tense and nervous; she was one of Konoha's top ninjas for Kami's sake!

She ventured farther down a long tunnel-like passageway, lined with doors and other passageway entrances. She checked in every single room she passed by, so far, without luck. Though, she was starting to get a feeling... A gut feeling that lead her down a long, rocky hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a giant room, seeming to be a room where training took place. There was another hallway on the opposite side of which she entered, and she decided to explore there too. There was a door at the end of this short hallway, and so she slipped inside.

She had found his hiding place.

There were signs of life recently having been here everywhere. There were articles of clothing around the bed, along with food wrappers, and other necessities. But, where was the most important thing? Where was Sasuke?

She got her response as the door shut, and a lock clicked. There came a low chuckle from behind her, and she jumped, then faced a grinning Sasuke. She had to shake herself off for a second, at seeing him again so suddenly. "Sakura..." He said, smirking a bit. "I'd heard you were coming for me..." He didn't seem fazed at all by her actually coming. He seemed... pleased.

Sasuke began to pace around her; almost like he was stalking her. Now was when she started to take in his appearance. He was only clad in a pair of navy blue trousers, no shirt, or anything else. She raised an eyebrow slightly. "Hey, you caught me at a bad time." He answered the look, shrugging slightly. He still had that smug grin on his face, as he eyed her up and down. Was it Sakura, or did he seem a bit... lusty? Sasuke licked his lips a bit, and that confirmed Sakura's thoughts. Her breathing hitched slightly, and a sudden... panic almost, overcame her.

Sasuke was looking at Sakura, like she was a piece of meat, and he was a hungry animal that hadn't eaten for days. Now, Sakura was fully panicked. She wasn't expecting this. She was expecting anything _but _this. Doing the only thing she knew how to do when she felt in danger, she slipped a kunai out from her kunai holster, and held it dangerously out in front of her. Sasuke stopped his pacing. He looked a bit curiously at the kunai, but that was only for a second. Then he stared her in the eyes. A smiled twitched at his lips.

"Oh Sakura... Sakura, Sakura, Sakura... Would you really use that thing on _me_? I was your first crush... and I still am, aren't I? Or has the dobe made a move on you already?" He grinned as Sakura's hand started to shake slightly. "You wouldn't do that to me though, of course, right? What would people say... sure... I betrayed the village... but you're killing one of the _last _Uchiha. You're going to end up wiping out one of the most prestigious clans of the leaf." He started his stalking up again, never letting his eyes leave Sakura. Sakura also kept her eyes on Sasuke, not daring to look away for an instant. That was all it took to fall behind in a situation like this against a high ranked missing nin such as Uchiha Sasuke.

Even though she didn't let her eyes wander from her target, she still ended up being knocked into a wall. The Sasuke that kept stalking her was just a shadow clone. A very well put together shadow clone. She couldn't even tell the difference, until it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke smirked, a bit maliciously, at Sakura. He had his hands on her shoulders, stepping on her feet so she wouldn't be able to move away. As reflex, Sakura reached out and stabbed Sasuke in the shoulder with her kunai. Sasuke only flinched slightly. Otherwise, he still seemed as emotionless as always, excluding the smug grin still plastered on his face.

Sakura made a grab for some more kunai, and jabbed one or two of them into Sasuke's stomach, though it pained her to do so. He still stared at her, with those onyx eyes, and not looking away. It was... eerie. His eyes... were still alive... but dead. "Sakura." His voice snapped her out of her daze. There was sadness in his tone. She noticed the bit of blood that started to form in the corner of his mouth. "Still so ignorant as always... ignorant and useless..." He sighed, his eyelids breaking the eerie stare, finally. Sakura moved, to try and get away, but Sasuke's hold on her did not loosen.

Sasuke opened his eyes again, staring deeply into Sakura's. "I wasted so much time... and now here I am... In this situation... Never once did I get to say how I felt about you..." A corner of his mouth upturned in a half smile. "You never did know... How I felt... I've watched you for a while now... You've grown... and matured... and you've become so beautiful... and yet deadly." He pulled one of the kunai from his shoulder, in example, and it clattered loudly to the ground.

He leaned in to Sakura, his mouth inches from her ear. "I never did get to tell you of the growing feelings I had for you." He breathed against her ear, making her shudder. Sakura was alarmed... Her heart was racing. Blood pulsed through her veins, trying to get oxygen to her brain. All she could think was, 'This isn't happening'.

"Sakura... I wonder... Is it too late to say I love you? Or am I just in time?" He mused aloud, closing his eyes again. "You... You d-don't love m-me. This... This m-must be an i-illusion." She fumbled a bit with her words, shock clouding her mind. 'Get a hold of yourself Sakura!' She mentally slapped herself. This had to be a trick. Something to catch her off guard, maybe?

Sasuke turned Sakura's head, so her eyes met his. Emerald met onyx, and there she saw it all. Pain, loneliness, fear, but also some kindness, and just a bit of lust. She was astounded at all of the emotion held in those seemingly endless, dark eyes. But, she couldn't let something so sudden such as this get in the way of her duties. She had a reputation on the line. One that took many years of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, pain, and most of her free time. No, she could not give up just for this.

"It's too late Sasuke..." She said, almost totally without emotion. That was the only way she could deal with this. Sasuke frowned, disappointment washing over his face. "Are you sure...?" He moved his face closer to hers, and breathed against her lips. "You... You'd just leave me disappointed like this? Me; the person you've liked since academy years?" He pouted. Sakura turned her head slightly, so she wouldn't have to see his face. "It's too late, I said." She had to repeat herself.

"Well... that's too bad... I guess things will just have to go a different way." He sighed again, pressing the side of his face to her cheek, and kissing the side of her neck. She gasped. "S... Sasuke!" She narrowed her eyes slightly, and pulled out another kunai, having to stab it into his side for him to stop. A small chuckle came from him, as he turned her head once again to look into her eyes. "Morally, you may not want this, but subconsciously, you do. There's no hiding it. I can see it in your eyes." Sakura closed her eyes. "That's not true..." She lied. "My reputation is more important than you. You... you betrayed me, and the rest of the village for your selfish needs and desires... and still, you've gotten no where, and still, the village wants you taken out. I'm doing my job." _That_ was true.

Sasuke chuckled again. "Sakura... still so useless to me... you were in the past, and you still are." He sighed then. "You disappoint me so very much... I didn't want to do this... But... I guess I'll have to do things my way..." He came closer to her, kissing her lightly on the cheek, then moving to her lips. Sakura's heart stopped temporarily. He kissed her again, sad at the lack of reaction. Sakura's whole mind went blank, and her limbs turned to jell-o. She couldn't breath, she couldn't move, she couldn't anything. She didn't know whether to fight back, or to give in to it. She _would _lose to him after all... so why waste time fighting?

No, she had to do what she was assigned to do... She couldn't just have her cake and eat it too. Not in any way she could think of at least.

Sasuke was very unpleased. He knew what was going on through her head. "Why does anyone need to know?" He whispered, a bit disappointedly, and hoping she'd do something now. "I... I can't. If anyone ever found out... I'd lose my job... and I'd be untrusted." She could also be stubborn; as stubborn as any Uchiha. Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh.

"Just... fight me. Let me get this over with." She slipped away from his now loosened grip, and got into a fighting stance, wielding kunai and shuriken, ready to pounce at any moment. "Fine." He was just getting into fighting stance as Sakura attacked with everything she had. Hard, chalkra infused punches hit Sasuke in the ribs, the arms, and the legs. She was aiming to temporarily paralyze him. She used chalkra to hit his pressure points, to cause pain and the loss of use of certain limbs and functions he needed to fight.

He proceeded to fight back with a few punches, stealing a kunai and using it against her. He got in a few stabs to the ribs, and a bunch of slices to the arms and legs. He kicked her once, knocking her down. If he couldn't get what he wanted for her... he would do what she wanted, and fight her. It hurt him to hurt her... but she wanted this. He'd figure out how to get what he wanted too... that was certain... But for now, doing what she wanted seemed like the best approach.

Sakura was a bit angry. Sasuke was holding back. "Come on! Is that all you have? Here, I thought, after you betraying the village and everyone in it, you'd be a bit stronger than that!" She glared and went in for another hit, sending a bone crushing blow to his upper arm. Sasuke winced, and groaned from the hit. At least he still had one arm left to use, seeing as his right, the one just injured, was totally out of commission. He grabbed his katana, and swung it at Sakura. "You wanna see how strong I've gotten? I'll show you!" He stabbed Sakura in the arm, sending chidori through the blade and into her. She whimpered and yelped, kicking at Sasuke's hand, and making him dislodge the blade. She held her bleeding arm, and attempted to heal it, when the blade was swung at her again. She dodged, and went in after Sasuke with a tackle. She knocked him to the ground, and stabbed a kunai through his arm, pinning him there. His other arm, she didn't even bother, because it was useless anyway. She stared down at him, as he narrowed his eyes back at her. "Stronger than I expected..." He admitted. He winced again as she shifted slightly, making sure he fully couldn't move.

"Now Sakura... you've hurt me so much... why don't you finish the job?" He asked, curiously, seeing the restraint in her eyes. She wanted to... but a part of her didn't either... She was stuck... having a war with herself. She came this far. She had to finish the job. "Or, will you just kiss it better, and let me be?" He stared up at her, sad, but hopeful.

Sakura looked away. "I have a job to do. You never let your target, and previous affairs with that target, get in the way of your duties." She frowned. Sasuke stayed silent, realizing her seriousness. He... She wasn't going to let him go as he expected. "Sakura... don't let me die..." His face took on a childish look of fear, as he stared at her. She could easily kill him right now. And... she had every intention of doing so. "If... If it must be... grant me one dying wish." There was a bit of despair, worry, and panic in his voice.

Sakura could do nothing but ask about his wish. "Kiss me." He begged, wanting to get at least one thing out of this. "Sakura... I love you. That was truth. Not a diversion. Kiss me before I die... Tell me you love me. Deep down, I know something must be there... Forgive me. Don't let me die full of regrets and knowing how many people close to me are unforgiving towards me." His voice had a hint of shakiness. He was genuinely scared. Sasuke Uchiha; scared. It... was... surprising.

Sakura frowned slightly, a bit of guilt overcoming her. A friend of hers... a friend of hers since she was little... an old comrade. Here she was... killing him. She had to comply. Sakura brushed her pink locks from her face, and ever so daintily kissed him on the lips, lightly, but full of passion and regret. Sasuke took in ever ounce of emotion in that kiss, reading it all as if it was written down for him on a piece of paper. "Sakura... I'm sorry... I never meant to hurt you or everyone else. I just wanted to do good... I'm... sorry..." He apologized. "No... No!" She wanted to redo this whole fight. She didn't want this. She'd chose Sasuke over her honor... She did still love him with a passion.

It was growing too late. He was losing blood fast, and unconsciousness was slipping from him with every growing second. "Sasuke... Sasuke no! Don't die! I'm sorry! Don't die!" A few tear drops ran down her cheeks and on to the cheek of her first crush, her comrade, and her friend. Now dead. All at her hands. All because of what she was assigned to do. She chose her job over him.

Sakura's entire body shook as she backed away from his body. She furiously wiped away the blood on her hands and arms; not her blood, but Sasuke's. She couldn't do this. She'd need endless counseling... If that even helped, she'd be lucky.

And still, she had to lug the corpse back to Konoha. She had to show the proof to Tsuande, and the rest of the village. That she killed Uchiha Sasuke.

--

With a heart that seemed to weigh a ton with grief, Sakura made her way back to Konoha. She was tired, and miserable, and growing more despondent as time went on. She arrived at Konoha a few hours later, she headed to the Hokage's office. Tsunade was surprised at the job getting done so quickly, but still proud either way. If only Tsunade knew how she was feeling.

As soon as Naruto found out, he rushed over to the Hokage's office as fast as his little crutches would take him. He paled as he saw Sakura. He could see how much of a mess she was, physically and mentally. He kept asking her if she needed anything, Sakura always replying roboticly that she was fine, and would be fine.

Tsunade told her to go home and get a shower, clean herself up, and get some rest. Sakura did as she was told, going home and getting an hour long bath, trying to relax the tensed muscles in her body. But she couldn't. Not with the image of Sasuke's corpse in her head. Later on, after eating something, she went to bed for the night.

--

Sakura slept well into the next day, not really leaving her house much for the week after the mission. Naruto came by occasionally, and kept asking if she needed anything. The response was always the same; 'No, I'm fine'.

She kept sinking deeper and deeper into a guilty depression, to the point where she couldn't take it anymore. She left, bottle of sake in hand, to her favorite spot in the woods not far from Konoha. It was a waterfall in the heart of the forest, surrounded by beautiful Sakura trees, and other blossoms, all in full bloom. She sat near the edge of the waterfall, watching it cascade over the small cliff into a river that lead into Konoha. She took a sip of her sake, taking a deep breath, inhaling the sweet smell of all the flowers and the fresh clean air. She took a few more sips, until she finished the bottle. She walked a little closer to the edge, surveying the height from the river below.

It would be enough.

Sakura took another deep breath of the calming, fresh air. The last breath she'd take on this earth. She made sure the suicide note was tucked safely into the pocket on the inside of her kunai holster, so it wouldn't get wet. She leaned forward, and let herself drop. She felt weightless, and free. "I'm sorry. I had no choice." She whispered as she dropped to her demise. But she wouldn't have it any other way. "I'll see you soon Sasuke." Were her dying words.

--

They found the body the next day. A fisherman had found the body in the river as he had made his daily rounds, checking the nets, but finding a corpse instead of the usual fish and aquatic life.

Naruto was a wreck, as was Tsunade, and everyone else who had known her. It was unexpected to the most of them. They had all read over the suicide note at least a million times. They just couldn't analyze it.

--

_To whom it may concern,_

_I'm deeply sorry. Things got too much for me. I've killed one who has betrayed, and betrayed myself too, in the end. At my hands, a former comrade, and a former friend has died. One who was truly not trying to hurt anyone. He sacrificed his honor to do some good for the village, and not did I know until his last words were uttered. By then, it was too late. I had done too much, and I couldn't fix my mistakes. Please, do not think of me illy now. I was only doing what most people would do if faced with this situation. Please, don't get hung up over this. Do not be saddened by my passing. It was the only way to deal with this in a way that would make sense. Once again, I apologize to all who I have disappointed and hurt. Especially you Naruto. Thank you all for everything._

_Sincerely in eternity,_

_Sakura._

_--_

The funeral was held two days later. It rained nonstop; a fitting weather condition for such a sad occasion. People from all over the village came out to say goodbye to their beautiful cherry blossom.

At the end of the funeral the sun peeked through the clouds a bit, shining over the burial sight. Cherry blossom trees were planted around her grave.

Naruto read the words inscribed on her tombstone, teary eyed.

_Haruno Sakura_

_A ferocious fighter. A kind hearted kunoichi. A friend. A comrade. A ninja._

_Now another cherry blossom in the wind. _

_--_

**A/N:**

Yeah... not particularly proud of this story... But I'm glad it's semi-okay.

Yes, I realize the characters are a bit... out of character in this... Once again, this is my first fanfic up here, and also my first SasuSaku fanfic.

**Please Review!!** I can't tell how bad I am until you tell me!!

Kthnxbye

P.S. The one (1) up in the beginning was becasue my friend Shinda insisted on having Naruto in this fic, and injured from being all tough and badass. -shrugs-


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